Rauner certainly hit on the point during a Chicago news conference last week, where he introduced Democrats and independents supporting his campaign, including his Democratic wife, DIANA.

“We need to become lean, efficient, effective and transparent,” Rauner said at the Hotel Allegro in Chicago. “Reduce the role of government, reduce the cost of government overall.”

Rauner said this in relation not just to state government, but referencing that Illinois has the most local units of government of any state. He said the number was more than 7,000, which is a little high. The U.S. Census Bureau's 2012 Census of Governments put the Illinois number at 6,968, or 26 fewer than it had been in 2007. Still, the second-place state in this dubious category in the 2012 count was Pennsylvania, and Illinois topped that state's number by more than 2,000.

As I happened to be in Chicago Thursday morning, I was able to ask Rauner if, given that the number of state employees has actually gone down in recent years, he thinks there should be still fewer.

While he gave no number, he certainly indicated that's the direction he wants to go.

“The use of technology in state government in Illinois is woefully behind most other states and way, way behind the private sector and business,” Rauner said. “As a result, the productivity per government worker is much lower than other organizations.

“We need to drive productivity and efficiency and effectiveness in government, so we can drive down the cost, provide important services,” he added. “Government is there to provide services that are needed. We need to provide them efficiently and effectively, so we don't have our tax burden too high, so we can have small-business owners stay in the state and come to the state to grow and create jobs.”

I had framed my question by saying the state had many more employees under Republican governors than it has under the recent Democratic regimes, and it turns out that is the case. According to figures from comprehensive annual financial reports of the State Employees' Retirement System, the number of employees covered by that system was 81,680 as of June 30, 2002. That would be during the final year of Republican Gov. GEORGE RYAN's single term. Back in 1994, when Republican Gov. JIM EDGAR was on the way to winning his second term, the number was 78,440.

The big drop came by the summer of 2003, when the number fell nearly 11,500 from the previous year to 70,192. Most left under an early retirement initiative that thousands decided to take as Democratic Gov. ROD BLAGOJEVICH came into office.

The reported figure as of June 30, 2013 — which generally includes state workers other than legislators and judges in executive, legislative and judicial branches, but doesn't include higher education institutions — was 61,545.

Thus, the number of state employees dropped by more than 20,100 people — nearly 25 percent of the workforce — from 2002 to 2013.

That's just something to consider as these discussions of smaller government continue. And while some employees in all fields are better than others, it's also clear that many state workers have had a ton of extra work to do as colleagues have departed.

Rauner introduced his wife, who is president of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, based in Chicago.

“She has dedicated her life to education, high-quality educational opportunities for everyone in Illinois, especially our youngest children who are disadvantaged and suffering from low incomes and challenging backgrounds,” Rauner said.

“People who know Bruce well know that he feels very strongly about civic issues, and he's not shy about sharing his opinions,” Diana Rauner said. “If you know us both, you know that we don't agree on everything, and sometimes, we disagree rather heatedly. But I know that Bruce has no greater passion than helping to make the world a better place, especially for the young, the immigrant, the striving.”

She said that without a reversal of the state's economic decline, “nothing else matters,” so “at this point, I believe that leadership is more important than ideology. We need pragmatic leadership that is not beholden to anyone. And so for me, it's not about Republican or Democrat, it's now or never. We need a warrior to go to battle for our children and for the future of our state.”

Candidate Rauner was asked about differences with some of his endorsers, including the Rev. JAMES MEEKS, a former member of the state Senate from Chicago who was a strong opponent of same-sex marriage — an issue Rauner said during the campaign he wanted to leave to voters in a referendum. Meeks wasn't among people at last week's news conference, but is for Rauner.

“Nobody here in front of you, nobody in my world, agrees 100 percent on everything, and frankly, sometimes I disagree with myself,” Rauner said. “You know what? Life is not about agreeing. Virtually no human being agrees 100 percent on everything. That's OK.”

But he said every voter wants “more jobs and a booming economy” as well as value for their tax dollar and education. He also said a “vast majority” want term limits for lawmakers “to help rip out the corruption and the endemic kind of sclerotic structure and culture in Springfield.”

Business couple

If they wanted to, TODD MAISCH and KIM CLARKE MAISCH could have a business roundtable every day in their kitchen.

The board of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce last week named Todd Maisch, 48, now its executive vice president, to become the new CEO of the organization as of July 1. He's been with the chamber for 20 years and is taking the place of DOUG WHITLEY, 64, who is retiring at the end of June.

Kim Clarke Maisch has been state director of the National Federation of Independent Business for 15 years, representing 11,000 members in Illinois. The chamber has 3,500 members.

Married for 18 years, they are parents of two boys, ages 11 and 7.

“We leave work at work,” Kim said. “We don't fight over business issues.”

“Luckily, we agree a vast majority of the time anyway,” Todd said.

They met while both worked on the staff of then-House GOP Leader LEE DANIELS.

Todd is a Peoria native who moved to Decatur with his family as a high school freshman. At the chamber, he was chosen to become CEO after a nationwide search, said RAY DRAKE, chamber board chairman and president of state government affairs for UPS.

“As I look forward to the next 10 years and beyond,” Todd told me, “what really stands out is how diverse and complex issues are becoming for employers, and the chamber needs to continually up its game if it's going to adequately represent the interest of employers.”

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